MSU to add more Title IX-related positions to respond to sexual assault on campus

Thirteen new Title IX related positions will be added to MSU for the upcoming school year. This includes Rob Kent, an attorney who had previously defended the university against lawsuits related to sexual assault, as the interim associate vice president of the Office of Civil Rights and Title IX Education and Compliance.

At the June 22 Board of Trustees meeting, the board presented a budget for the 2018-19 academic year, which included adding several new Title IX and related positions.

According to a June 18 press release, Kent started working at MSU in 2014 as a member of the university’s Office of General Counsel and was “instrumental in establishing the University Policy on Relationship Violence and Sexual Misconduct.”

Kent has also worked with the U.S. Department of Education Office of Civil Rights during reviews of MSU’s handling of sexual assault cases, the release said.

The Office of Civil Rights and Title IX Education and Compliance, which will oversee the Office of Institutional Equity and the Prevention, Outreach and Education Office, will be responsible for handling sexual assault complaints on campus. As interim associate vice president, Kent will “be responsible for the departments that investigate civil rights and Title IX complaints and that are responsible for prevention, education and outreach efforts,” according to the press release.

Kent’s position is temporary and MSU will be planning a national search for a permanent associate vice president.

Prevention specialist, graduate and professional student outreach and education

Prevention specialist, male engagement

Executive secretary

Office of Institutional Equity

Director of Office of Institutional Equity

Executive secretary

Four senior investigators

Law fellow/intake

Case manager

Six investigators

Two service coordinators

Other campus sexual assault programs

Director of Sexual Assault Program

Director of MSU Safe Place

Deputy Title IX coordinator for athletics

The 2018-19 budget will also account for 10 new positions in the Counseling and Psychiatric Services, four new MSU police officers, two new employee assistance positions, two new FOIA office positions and two new Office of Enterprise Risk Management, Ethics and Compliance positions.

“​I think the creation of the Office of the Chief Risk, Compliance and Ethics Officer is a big deal,” Trustee Brian Mosallam said at the June 22 Board of Trustees meeting. “We now will have someone asking the question not what MSU can do from a legal perspective but what MSU should do from an ethical one. I think that will bring a huge change to our culture.”

According to a press release regarding new positions to “enact suggested changes related to the university’s response to relationship violence and sexual misconduct,” MSU plans on taking other measures such as:

MSU Police Department will now follow a protocol to ensure they notify the Office of Institutional Equity when investigating relationship violence and sexual assault complaints.

There will be a Title IX survey for MSU students, faculty and staff for the 2018-19 school year.

There will be relationship violence and sexual misconduct-related information and resources given out to incoming students and their parents during the Academic Orientation Program, or AOP.